Nigeria has launched a campaign to clean up its image as the 419 scam capital of the world.
Dubbed “Re-branding Nigeria,” the campaign aims to improve Nigerian citizens’ perceptions of themselves and the rest of the world’s perception of the country under the slogan: “Nigeria: Good people, great country.”
Just before the ceremony to unveil the campaign, one of the team members overseeing the effort had his cell phone pick-pocketed.
Some claim Nigerians turn to crime out of desperation, but we’re not here to make socio-economic commentary.
Let’s consider this effort solely from a branding perspective.
The name Nigeria is never going to be burnished by a re-branding effort. No way. No how.
People are known to have disappeared going to Nigeria thinking they would receive millions of dollars in a 419, or advance-fee, scam if they met their swindlers in person.
Advanced-fee scams are where thieves send people unsolicited e-mail claiming to be from a government or bank official who needs help spiriting a huge sum of money out of the country, usually Nigeria. If a dupe falls for the scam, he or she is told some up-front money is required for some bogus need, such as bribing local officials.
If the dupe pays the fee, the thieves keep coming up with new fees and stringing the dupe along as long as possible. If the scam works, the dupe will keep paying the fees hoping to recoup his or her losses until he or she is tapped out.
These scams are apparently ingrained in Nigerian culture.
The very name 419 scam refers to the relevant section of Nigeria’s criminal code.
This is also the country where “I Go Chop Your Dollar,” a song glorifying 419 scams, became a hit.
The song’s singer, Nigerian comedian and actor Nkem Owoh, was one of 111 suspected 419 scammers arrested in Amsterdam in 2007. He was later released.
Insa Nolte, a lecturer at the UK’s University of Birmingham African Studies Department, is widely reported to have said: "The availability of e-mail helped to transform a local form of fraud into one of Nigeria's most important export industries."
All the money and political correctness in the world will not help Nigeria shed its image as a haven for 419 e-mail scammers—not as long as it is named Nigeria, anyway.
Why? Because it’s a haven for 419 e-mail scammers and we all know it.
Re-branding Nigeria with a happy slogan is akin to Boca Raton, FL adopting the slogan: “4 million E-mail Addresses! All Double Opt-In! We Swear It!”
Boca Raton is widely recognized as America’s spam capital. Apparently, it has something to do with the city’s high-tech culture and Florida’s swindler-friendly corporate bankruptcy laws.
Just as tobacco company Philip Morris had to change its name to Altria, obviously, the name Nigeria has to go.
Hell, given the way our public school system and media work, a grand total of about 42 Americans will know that whatever they rename it was once Nigeria.
